Henry Rogers Selden (October 14, 1805 – September 18, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician. He was

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

from 1857 to 1858. He defended

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

in her 1873 trial for unlawfully voting as a woman.

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...

, ''America on trial: inside the legal battles that transformed our nation'', p.174 (2004)()

Life

He was born in 1805 in

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lyme i ...

and moved to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, in 1825 to study law in the firm of

Addison Gardiner Addison Gardiner (March 19, 1797 – June 5, 1883) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Lieutenant governor of New York from 1845 to 1847 and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1854 to 1855. Early life and career ...

and Selden's brother

Samuel L. Selden Samuel Lee Selden (October 12, 1800 – September 20, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals in 1862. Life Selden was born in Lyme, Connecticut in 1800 and moved to Rochest ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in

Clarkson, New York Clarkson is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 6,736 at the 2010 census. The town is named after General Matthew Clarkson. The Town of Clarkson is on the western border of the county and is west of the City ...

. On September 25, 1834, Selden married Laura Anne Baldwin at Clarkson, and they had three sons and two daughters, among them

George Baldwin Selden George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.Flink, p. 51 ''Probably the most absurd action in the history of patent law was the granting ...

, who became the first person to be granted a patent for the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

. Selden became the case reporter for the

New York State Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

in 1851. Originally a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he became an abolitionist and founding member of the New York

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

in 1856, and was elected Lieutenant Governor that November. In 1858,

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

conferred the degree of

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

on him. He returned to Rochester in 1859. He was a Delegate to the

1860 Republican National Convention The 1860 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met May 16-18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The conven ...

. In July 1862, Henry R. Selden was appointed a judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of his brother Samuel. In November 1863, he was elected to succeed himself for an eight-year term, but resigned on January 2, 1865. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(Monroe Co., 2nd D.) in

1866 Events January–March * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman tr ...

. In 1870, he was nominated by the Republican Party for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, but was defeated by Democrat

Sanford E. Church Sanford Elias Church (April 18, 1815 – May 14, 1880) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He served as Lieutenant Governor of the state of New York and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Early life Born in Milford, Ot ...

. In 1872, Selden was a delegate to the national convention of the Liberal Republican Party in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Partisan bickering there led him to retire from politics. He spent the latter portion of the year and the first half of 1873 involved in Anthony's case, for which he never billed Anthony. Selden retired from the practice of law in 1879. He was buried near Anthony at the

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, Monroe County, New York, founded in 1838, is the first municipal cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Situated on of land adjacent to the University of ...

Selden, New York Selden is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 19,851 at the 2010 census. History Early settlement The farmers who first moved to what is now Selden in the ...

is named for him.Bayles, Richard Mather. ''Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Suffolk County'' (Port Jefferson, New York, 1874)

References

Political Graveyard

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selden, Henry R 1805 births 1885 deaths Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) New York (state) Republicans Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester) New York (state) Liberal Republicans Members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Rochester, New York New York (state) Democrats American abolitionists People from Clarkson, New York Activists from Rochester, New York Lawyers from Rochester, New York 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers